Shalom! I cannot believe that ISC 4 hasn’t even started yet and already I’m blogging! I am very happy that I was able to visit Ramla last week while I was in Israel. I was already in Israel because I was staffing an Oranim birthright trip, and I had already arranged to extend my stay by 2 days so that I could visit Ramla. After an amazing but exhausting 10 days of birthright, I put my participants on their plane home on Tuesday, May 15th, and then promptly fell asleep until 2 pm the next day! Luckily Erez and I had arranged to meet at 4 pm. After arriving at the airport and feeling very proud of myself for getting there all on my own, Erez and Todd picked me up and we drove to Ramla. I must admit, I really had no idea what to expect about the town, simply because of the underwhelming response I got from people when I told them where I would be living for 5 months. Add to that my lack of sleep from the previous 10 days and I really had no idea what I was getting into!
Our first stop in Ramla was to the community center so that I could meet Chava, our house “mom.” After meeting her, I knew that I would have an amazing experience working with her in the community. It’s pretty hard to stay tired when someone is hugging you and repeatedly calling you “yoffi!”
After a quick look around the community center we all settled into her office to talk about the program, about what her role in the community was, etc. I was also able to meet Maya, whose nickname I believe is “Mother Maya” because she is mom to everyone in the community. I also got a quick tour of the outside yard area, which is hopefully going to the location of ISC 4’s group project.
After we said our goodbyes, Erez drove Todd and me to the house. It was really nice having Todd with me because he was a participant of ISC 1, and because he had already lived in Ramla the previous year, he gave me a running commentary of the town while Erez drove.
I had been told that the ISC house was in the nicer part of town, but I didn’t expect it to be as nice as it was! Its not that Ramla is so poor, its that most of the housing is apartments, as it is in Tel Aviv, so I was used to seeing apartments everywhere. I did not expect the house to be as big as it was. With big bedrooms upstairs, downstairs, and several bathrooms, this is definitely going to be a great place to live! We also have a really cute patio area outside, and I can already see my new housemates and me hanging out together under the stars.
ISC 2 is still going on, so once inside the house I got to meet a few of the participants who were more than happy to give me a tour and let me poke around by myself. After hanging out for a little while, Todd and I decided to walk through town and take a sherut (small bus) back to Tel Aviv, rather than have Erez drive us. Todd and I made a pitstop at the famous shwarma stand 3 blocks from the house. In keeping with ISC tradition, I will definitely be spending a lot of time there! The owner even gave me a many counting lesson in Hebrew before giving me my soda. For future reference, “sheva” means 7!
The walk through the town to the sherut really helped because it gave me a feel for the area. I know that I will be traveling back and forth to Tel Aviv a lot, because I have friends there and also just because I really love it there. Even though my Hebrew is minimal right now, I know that I will have no trouble getting around by myself.
I had been very excited about ISC before my day in Ramla, but afterwards I really did not want to leave! I honestly had no idea what to expect when I got to Ramla; but after seeing it with my own eyes, I had no idea it was possible to be this excited. I truly cannot wait to work with Chava in the community. I’m so looking forward to living in the house with my new roommates, becoming a part of the Ramla community, and just living in Israel! I really hope that the next 2 months pass quickly, because even writing this blog is making me a little sad that I cannot be in Israel right now!
Written by Diana Diner, Future ISC 4 Participant